Hollywood is full of ups and downs. Movies have tons of different pieces in constant motion, and so often news that’s true in the morning may not even be true by lunchtime. There’s no better recent example of this than news on who is directing The Batman.

So let’s recap the timeline.

January 30, 2017 – News breaks that Ben Affleck has officially stepped away from directing The Batman. A shortlist for new directors includes Matt Ross (Captain Fantastic) and Matt Reeves (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes).

February 10, 2017 – Matt Reeves is reported to be negotating a contract to direct The Batman.

February 17, 2017 – Negotations stall with Reeves after some kind of undisclosed breakdown with Warner Bros.

February 23, 2017 – Warner Bros. announces Matt Reeves will both produce and direct The Batman.

The off again, on again nature of news like this isn’t very surprising. Again, there are a lot of moving pieces and contracts take time. What is surprising about it, though, is that Ben Affleck isn’t mentioned anywhere in the press release announcing Reeves as director. His curious omission will no doubt fuel rumors that Affleck wants to step away from the franchise entirely. Combine that with this press release quote from Reeves, and things are even stranger:

“I have loved the Batman story since I was a child. He is such an iconic and compelling character, and one that resonates with me deeply. I am incredibly honored and excited to be working with Warner Bros. to bring an epic and emotional new take on the Caped Crusader to the big screen.”

So this is a new take? After Zack Snyder just gave us a new take? That would be unexpected. It is important to note, however, that at this time Warner Bros. is confirming to us that Ben Affleck is still attached to star.

Reeves is an incredible director – one of the best in the business — and if he’s got a take on Batman that’s going to cause him to sign on the dotted line, so will we.

Meanwhile, the next time Batman appears on screen, it’ll be in this November’s Justice League. You can check out that trailer below.